The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

Overview

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit whose sole mission is to develop and support sustainable business models for local journalism. Founded in 2016, it is the non-controlling, nonprofit owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and provides grants, training and strategic advisory services to news organizations in Philadelphia and nationwide.

Key functions and role

The Institute funds digital products, investigative reporting and new business models at The Philadelphia Inquirer without directing its business or editorial operations, and makes grants to other news organizations serving the Philadelphia region and beyond. It runs Communities of Practice that bring journalism professionals together to share best practices, and in 2019 it launched Spotlight PA, a Harrisburg-based newsroom that provides statehouse coverage free of charge to more than 80 news organizations across Pennsylvania. The Institute also advises philanthropists and news leaders elsewhere in the country on building nonprofit journalism efforts.

History

Cable television entrepreneur H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest founded the Institute in 2016, initially under the name Institute for Journalism in New Media, donating his ownership of Philadelphia Media Network -- publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News -- along with a $20 million endowment. The organization was renamed The Lenfest Institute for Journalism in 2017. Following Lenfest's death in 2018, his estate contributed an additional bequest of roughly $50 million to expand the Institute's endowment. Since its founding, the Institute has invested more than $117 million in more than 600 news organizations and initiatives nationwide.

Political positions

The Lenfest Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan philanthropic organization focused on the business sustainability of local journalism rather than editorial content, and it states that it exercises no editorial or managerial control over The Philadelphia Inquirer. Some observers have noted the practical and financial limits of nonprofit newspaper ownership, including IRS restrictions on a nonprofit's ability to directly subsidize a single business's operating losses.

Leadership

Jim Friedlich has served as Executive Director and CEO since September 2016. Rosalind Remer chairs the Institute's Board of Managers, which includes news executives, media entrepreneurs, technology executives, philanthropists and academics.

Location and contact info

Address
100 S. Independence Mall W, Suite 600
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Phone
(215) 854-5600
Email
info@lenfestinstitute.org
Website
https://www.lenfestinstitute.org